CHINA WATCHWorking with Japan and Korea to Compete with China on AI
Allies are an asymmetric advantage for the U.S. in its tech race with China. New report looks at what makes Japan and South Korea critical partners for the United States in seeking to shape a world safe for democracy by leveraging the power of AI.
As President Trump traveled to the Indo-Pacific in late October for his first summit with new Japanese Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae and the APEC Summit hosted by President Lee Jae-myung in South Korea, the U.S. signed agreements with both Japan and South Korea outlining plans for broadening cooperation aimed at outcompeting China on AI. What are the most promising areas for collaboration on AI with these countries, and what specific steps can Washington take with them? RAND examined these questions in a pair of recent reports, looking at what makes Japan and South Korea critical partners for the United States in seeking to shape a world safe for democracy by leveraging the power of AI.
The third pillar of the Trump administration’s AI Action Plan prioritizes exporting American AI to allies and partners, particularly in the Indo-Pacific, which the Pentagon has consistently identified as its “priority theater.” RAND found in examining the prospects for expanded AI cooperation between the United States, Japan, and South Korea, that the three sides share a common understanding of the threat to the region posed by authoritarian revisionists such as China, North Korea, and Russia. The U.S. and Japanese national security strategies, for example, prioritize supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific, while the Republic of Korea’s 2023 National Security Strategy referred to a ‘free, peaceful, and prosperous Indo-Pacific’ and the Lee Jae-myung administration’s initial policy moves have continued to prioritize the U.S. alliance, cooperation with Japan, and collaboration on (and investment in) artificial intelligence.
Separately, Tokyo and Seoul are seeking to advance their nations’ AI capabilities, computing power, electrical generation capacity, semiconductor industries, robotics sectors, and university research prowess—all key components of advanced AI where cooperation with the United States holds great promise. In addition, collaboration on AI supply chains; controlling market access in ways that block untrustworthy PRC AI products from Japanese and Korean markets; and cooperation on global standards around ensuring that AI reinforces democratic values rather than authoritarian interests are areas for cooperation with Japan and Korea. Each country can bring to bear its own economic and technological hard power as well as its diplomatic and cultural soft power to promote norms that support trustworthy technology and discriminate against untrustworthy PRC AI products and services. While bilateral cooperation is possible with both Japan and Korea, the three nations’ leading diplomats have also agreed trilaterally to deepen AI cooperation at their meeting in New York in September 2025.
